A barefoot Renaissance man, Johnson is a recording artist, record label owner, award-winning filmmaker and one-time professional surfer. His songwriting first appeared in the surf documentary Thicker Than Water, which he directed and produced with partners Chris and Emmett Malloy while a film school student at the University of California at Santa Barbara. A demo, plus his appearance on "Rodeo Clowns" on G. Love & Special Sauce's Philadelphonic, caught the ear of J.P. Plunier, Ben Harper's manager and frequent producer. Plunier subsequently produced Johnson's enchanting 2001 debut, Brushfire Fairytales, and Johnson later gained valuable exposure touring with Harper.
Since then, Johnson's spent a little less time surfing (although the treacly lap steel guitar and plinky steel drums that occasionally can be heard in his music pay homage to warm tropical breezes). Two more solo recordings (On And On in 2003 and In Between Dreams in 2005) fleshed out his reputation as a careful and deliberate songwriter. As a new father, he penned the soundtrack for the animated children's film Curious George, which landed him an unexpected No. 1 album. In between all this, he founded the Kokua Hawai’i Foundation, which teaches environmental stewardship throughout local communities and elementary schools in the islands. Johnson also owns and runs Brushfire Records, home to his surf film soundtracks and music, as well as G. Love, Matt Costa and Rogue Wave, among others.
Johnson's fifth full-length release is Sleep Through The Static.
Provenance: North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii
Latest Release: Sleep Through The Static (2008)
© 2007 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.
Jack Johnson
